SR 109 (LSB 6920XS (4) 91)

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 109

BY  QUIRMBACH and LOFGREN

A Resolution recognizing the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Clark and honoring his legacy.

   WHEREAS, Iowans proudly claim Alexander Clark as one of the state’s most illustrious sons, whose endeavors helped shape the legal and moral fabric of Iowa and the nation; and
   WHEREAS, Alexander Clark was born on February 25, 1826, in Washington, Pennsylvania, and settled in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1842, where he rose from barber and entrepreneur to human rights champion, and eventually served in the highest diplomatic post available to Black Americans in the 19th century; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Clark was a lay leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, helping to found Iowa’s first African Methodist Episcopal congregation in 1848, serving as a delegate to numerous conferences, and representing the denomination at an ecumenical conference in London; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Clark emerged as a bold advocate for justice when he led efforts petitioning the delegates to the Iowa Constitutional Convention of 1857 to repeal the discriminatory “Black laws” that restricted the rights of African Americans; and
   WHEREAS, during the Civil War, Mr. Clark served as the primary recruiter and honorary sergeant major for the First Iowa Infantry of African Descent, later designated the 60th United States Colored Troops, and donated his recruiting fees to provide uniforms and supplies; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Clark presided over a convention in October 1865, when the 60th United States Colored Troops mustered out at Davenport, drafting a petition to the General Assembly demanding suffrage and declaring that men “trusted with the musket can and ought to be trusted with the ballot”; and
   WHEREAS, in 1867, Mr. Clark challenged racial exclusion in education by suing the Muscatine School Board on behalf of his daughter, Susan Clark, resulting in the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Clark v. Board of School Directors, 24 Iowa 266 (1868), which integrated Iowa’s public schools 86 years before the Supreme Court of the United States decision in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954); and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Clark was prominent in the movement that successfully amended the Constitution of the State of Iowa in 1868 by striking the word “white” from Iowa’s founding document and securing the right to vote for Black men; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Clark traveled widely as a high-ranking Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons, gaining renown as the “Colored Orator of the West”; and
   WHEREAS, in 1884, at the age of 58, Mr. Clark graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law, becoming the institution’s second Black graduate, following his son, Alexander G. Clark; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Clark was the owner and editor of the Chicago Conservator and achieved a national reputation as a leader among Black publishers; and
   WHEREAS, Mr. Clark concluded his career of public service as United States Minister to Liberia, having been appointed by President Benjamin Harrison; and
   WHEREAS, the Alexander Clark House in Muscatine stands today as a historic landmark, serving as a testament to a life dedicated to the principle of human equality; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate recognizes February 25, 2026, as the 200th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Clark and honors his legacy as an Iowan whose example continues to inspire the pursuit of human freedom and equality.